This invention relates to entertainment systems and more specifically to retractable display assemblies integrated into entertainment systems utilized on transportation vehicles.
Today's world involves numerous situations in which one is required to endure trips of varying distance and time for both pleasure and work reasons. To accomplish these travels a wide assortment of personal and commercial vehicles including automobiles, buses, ships, trains and aircraft are relied upon on a daily basis. For those individuals not operating the respective vehicle, the duration of the trip provides a captive situation which is often addressed by access to wireless broadcast information, such as television, or viewing pre-recorded information stored on the vehicle for playback during the trip. Such systems are often referred to as on-board or mobile entertainment systems. With advances in electronics in recent years, with respect to size, cost and ruggedness, such on-board entertainment systems are commonly found in numerous vehicles.
During normal deployment and operation, certain unplanned conditions may arise that will cause the system to retract and stow the display assembly. These conditions are generally related to passenger or foreign objects exerting unplanned force on the display assembly. Such situations may be reduced to predetermined force limits that initiate a desire by the on-board entertainment system operator to retract the display assembly. A method and apparatus for determining and responding to such conditions is necessary in order to accommodate such situations.
Accordingly, a need exists for an on-board entertainment system incorporating a display housing system that secures stowage and deployment, while deflecting predictable extreme applied force is highly desirable.